Why the Lakers’ quiet trade deadline could make for an explosive offseason

RUI HACHIMURA COULDN’T hide the smile from his face as he bounced down the ramp to the players’ parking lot at Crypto.com Arena.

The Los Angeles Lakers had just completed a 119-115 come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia 76ers to sweep the season series for the first time since Sam Hinkie was still in charge of “the process,” with Hachimura scoring 11 of his 14 points after halftime.

Hours earlier, the NBA trade deadline had passed with L.A. completing one deal — sending Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for sharp-shooting guard Luke Kennard. The lone transaction put an end to weeks of speculation about what the franchise would do to increase the title chances of a team led by Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.

Hachimura, who was acquired by L.A. from the Washington Wizards leading up to the 2023 deadline and helped spark a run to the conference finals, had gotten used to life as a Laker — and all that comes with it.

“With the Lakers, we get a lot of rumors,” Hachimura told ESPN. “But a lot of times, those rumors are bulls—. …

“We have the time now where it’s like, ‘OK, this is our group now.’ Because we know that now. So we’re ready for what’s next.”

Hachimura had one of the several expiring contracts on the Lakers’ books, making his $18.3 million salary easier to move in any deal. The 28-year-old forward will be a free agent this summer. In any other offseason, Hachimura’s situation could headline the Lakers’ list of business priorities.

But this summer is not just any offseason for L.A.

Reaves, who turned down an $89.2 million extension with the Lakers last summer, is eligible for a max contract for five years and $241 million.

And James is also a free agent, and his future is as murky as it has ever been, with the 41-year-old repeatedly stating that he is unsure of whether he intends to play next season or if he’ll retire after this, his record-setting 23rd season.

This Lakers team, as presently constructed, has only the final 28 games of the regular season — plus whatever playoff run it can muster — guaranteed.

But what’s next this summer could determine the Lakers’ success — or lack thereof — for years to come.

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THE LAKERS’ APPROACH to the deadline kept their powder dry for what could be an explosive summer.

Starting with draft night, L.A. will have three first-round picks available to trade — 2026, 2031 and 2033 — and have $51 million in projected cap space, taking into account the $20.9 million free agent hold for Reaves, according to ESPN’s NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.

Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka told reporters there were opportunities L.A. turned down in order to preserve optionality.

“I would say we were aggressive,” Pelinka said. “And one form of being aggressive is saying no to moves that come your way that might not be best for the short- and long-term future. That’s like being aggressive, even though you end up doing nothing, because it’s hard to say no sometimes to getting a good player that could be a quick short-term fix, but could have implications for the long term where it doesn’t fit into the overall vision you have for the team.”

The biggest question is whether that vision still includes James.

“The first thing they have to do is move off LeBron,” an Eastern Conference front office executive told ESPN. “Let him walk and use the space to retool around Luka. Keeping Reaves is critical. [Doncic] plays best with another ball handler/creator like with Kyrie [Irving] and [Jalen] Brunson.”

That $51 million in cap space L.A. is projected to have is calculated without James and Hachimura, and assuming Deandre Ayton ($8.1 million) and Marcus Smart ($5.4 million) pick up their player options.

If James wants to play a 24th season, he would be welcomed back in L.A., sources told ESPN.

Pelinka declared before the start of this season that he would love it if James retired a Laker, and, sources told ESPN, that sentiment was meant to reflect a 2026 retirement or a 2027 retirement, if James intends to extend his career.

If James were to return, his salary would be a major factor in determining exactly what kind of team L.A. could build.

James is being paid $52.6 million this season and just played in the All-Star Game for a record-setting 22nd time. He’s averaging 22 points on 50.2% shooting, 7.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. Though he did take a $2.7 million pay cut below the max on the last deal he signed with L.A. in order to help the franchise avoid the second-apron penalties, if he were to take a dramatic pay cut to re-sign with the Lakers this summer, it would be a significant departure from how he has approached negotiations throughout his career.

And it will take a significant amount of cap space to address the holes in the current roster.

“They need to get as many defenders with length that can knock down a shot as possible,” an Eastern Conference front office member told ESPN.

Unrestricted free agents who have been discussed internally, sources told ESPN, include Andrew Wiggins and Tari Eason, while Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade are other players who fit that profile.

The Lakers also privately discussed restricted free agent Peyton Watson, sources told ESPN, and could land him if Denver, which already has $215 million in salary committed to returning players for next season, doesn’t match the offer sheet

“We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason,” Pelinka said.

“Because there’s some teams that maybe have gotten too deep into the aprons. And I think players, we see around the league, become available when teams get in that position.”

Another option will be trading for a player who would use the available salary cap space, like the Washington Wizards were able to do when they acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis this season.

But the main player the Lakers could target with that strategy is another generational talent 10 years James’ junior: Giannis Antetokounmpo.

THE LAKERS, TEAM sources told ESPN, obviously see the appeal in Antetokounmpo and believe they would be one of the teams on a very short list if the Bucks star asks for a trade out of Milwaukee.

A Western Conference executive told ESPN he believes Antetokounmpo is the “big prize” the Lakers hope to land, should the Milwaukee Bucks decide to trade the 2021 NBA Finals MVP in the offseason.

But Antetokounmpo is no guarantee to be traded, despite how the saga has played out with the Bucks and their longtime superstar so far. The Lakers know Milwaukee can use the offseason to try to make the team more competitive and persuade him to sign an extension, which he becomes eligible to do on Oct. 1, rather than accept trading him as an inevitability.

Still, the Lakers’ potential trade package for Antetokounmpo becomes more appealing in the offseason than it would have been if they’d decided to get involved with those talks earlier this month.

The Lakers’ offer would center on those three future first-round picks, which could be more appealing to Milwaukee if it intends to enter into a full reset post Antetokounmpo, rather than rebuilding on the fly with an offer from a team like the New York Knicks that would center on players such as Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby.

Antetokounmpo has made it clear he wants to compete for another championship. Doncic and the Lakers celebrated their one-year anniversary together earlier this month, and their partnership so far has produced a first-round exit in April, a three-year, $165 million extension for Doncic in August and, currently, the No. 5 seed in the West.

A source familiar with Doncic’s thinking told ESPN that L.A.’s deadline approach with “adherence to discipline” and focus on the “long-term picture” was supported by the 26-year-old star. He has not pushed the team to add a superstar-level co-star for when James is no longer on the roster.

Still, this will be a crucial offseason for Pelinka and Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss, as they work with new owner Mark Walter to find the best way to move forward with Doncic as the face of the franchise.

Pelinka told reporters earlier this month that he and Buss will be in charge of the Lakers’ offseason, putting Walter’s deep pockets to work in the hopes of emulating the success of Walter’s other team across town: the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Those Dodgers made a splash before their consecutive titles by signing two-way player Shohei Ohtani to the largest deal in MLB history. Could the Lakers make a similar splash this summer?

“[They could] just say, ‘F— it,'” said the Eastern Conference executive, “and go all-in on Giannis.”